Reviews and musings on music and arts events in the Clare, Limerick & Waterford regions & occasionally further afield

Music and Reviews from Clare, Limerick, Waterford and sometimes further afield

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Letter to the Editor, Irish Times:Limerick's Music Scene

Dear Sir,

Aoife Barry’s two page article in the Irish Times (April 6th) on Limerick’s music scene was broad but hardly comprehensive. Although a range of genres were covered, no aspect of the classical music scene or indeed the jazz scene was covered, not even in the catch all section, ‘What else is happening in Limerick’.

On Saturday night at UCH, the 100+ strong Limerick Choral Union with a 50 strong orchestra gave a terrific performance of two wonderful choral works by Brahms and Guonod to a well filled auditorium. The Association of Irish Choirs and the Irish Chamber Orchestra are based in University College Limerick and the LCU which also performs works by living composers, most recently hosting Karl Jenkins, is just one of several groups contributing to a healthy sphere of activity just as deserving of acknowledgement and recognition in any overview of a music scene in the Shannonside city in your pages .

Thanks for your reply Ernie. Indeed, I rejoiced to see lengthy coverage of arts events outside the Pale on your pages and commend the publication for it. Good to see Dolan's contribution to the scene highlighted. It comes as something of a surprise to me that jazz and classical audiences are not included in your target. I regularly consult the excellent listings and record reviews pages in The Ticket and always found these areas well covered with many smaller events listed. Yes, the article has alerted me to check out some unfamiliar aspects, particularly Wireless Folk and I was prompted to research the active jazz scene m in Limerick and was at terrific gig last night.

I thefollow Rock scene in Limerick and no mention of many bands currently touring, I thought the article was more about the venues than the acts or diversity of the city. The Jazz scene/players in the Limerick are great and there should be more awareness. We also have great classical peeps. I didn't learn anything new from the article unforunatley.

Thanks for your feedback. I thought the approach of looking at the scene from the angle of venues and promoters rather than the artists was quite a good one even though major venues UCH, LIT and Belltable spaces weren't listed even in passing. I agree with your comment on the jazz scene. I posted a review on an excellent gig recently and was quite amazed at the quality of the performers.